Duende - Freewood
by ohcrap-itsactuallymydivision
Summary: Unusual power to attract or charm.


Gavin didn't know what it was about Ryan that made him this way, but Gavin was pretty sure he had a superpower of some kind.

First of all, there was no way that so much charm could be crammed into one person.

Secondly, he was too attractive for it to be humanly possible.

And last, but by no means least, that man could charm himself out of a locked steel prison if he felt like it (and with how insane he was at times, Gavin believed that was still an actual possibility).

Gavin had started noticing it when he and Ryan had walked the short trip down to the nearest fast-food place simply because it was quick and easy and they had a lot of recording and editing to do that day so fast-food it was. It would have been a normal trip had Ryan not ended up getting the number of the (admittedly rather attractive) lady working behind the till who chatted to him for _less than five minutes_while their order was processed.

And to make things worse, all he did was put the slip of paper in his pocket and claim that if he actually called everyone he got the number of, he'd be broke from spending so much money on a phone bill. Granted it had been somewhat of a joke, but Gavin couldn't help but feel a tiny spark of jealousy towards him purely because if a dollar had been taken from him every time he had a failed attempt at chatting someone up in a bar, he'd be broke too.

After that small incident, Gavin had forgotten about Ryan's almost extra-terrestrial ability to charm and attract anyone he pleased.

But then Ryan actually started hanging out with the rest of the Achievement Hunters outside of work and Gavin realised he was screwed; he often made use of those nights to chat up the first attractive person he sees, but after Ryan started coming along, it wasn't too hard to figure out that everyone would only have eyes for him.

And Gavin's jealousy only grew.

A lady with red lipstick and wavy black hair was dancing with Ryan on the dance floor among the other patrons of the bar and the rest of the Achievement Hunters (minus Gavin who sat on a bar stool with a glass of beer in his hand). Five minutes later the woman had Ryan pulling out his phone to put her number in it, and at the same time, Gavin ordered a stronger drink.

A few weeks later Ray, Ryan, Gavin and Michael had taken a short walk over to Starbucks to grab cold drinks on one of the hottest days of the year. The girl with platinum blonde hair and a pretty face behind the counter wrote her number on Ryan's cup and gave him a wink before he left. Michael and Ray had cheered for him once they left the shop, Gavin couldn't find it in himself to partake in their congratulating of Ryan's so-called 'real life achievement'.

After the scene with the coffee-shop girl, Gavin decided to take mental notes as to _how the bloody hell Ryan was so goddamn charming and attractive to everyone he met._

The first thing was evident; the man was attractive. Even if he was shy and timid and was too afraid to even say a simple 'hello' to a stranger, he was still immensely dashing. He had the light blond swooping hair, an impressively strong and well-built physique, a gorgeous smile, sharp blue eyes, and even the eyebrow thing he did made him attractive.

Gavin then slowly began to notice all the little things about Ryan that made all the ladies (and even a lot of men) swoon.

Ryan had confidence. He could walk up to a stranger and act like their best friend of ten years in the space of less than ten minutes (Gavin knew, he had actually timed it before). The calm and laid-back attitude he had around people just sold it.

But not only was he confident, he also seemed to have a unique ability to be able to recognise exactly how to approach someone; no matter if they were awkward in social situations or overly confident, Ryan managed to talk to them all.

And there was one more thing. Ryan rarely ever approached or flirted with anyone _on purpose_. It just kind of seemed to _happen_. One minute he would be sat next to a stranger in a short skirt and the next minute he would be having an in-depth conversation with them.

It was unusual, to say the least.

Gavin's only problem was that one evening, he finally realised who he was _really_ jealous of, instead of pinning it all on Ryan for having that dumb power to charm.

An incredibly drunk lady – she looked to be in her late twenties at least – had stumbled over to Ryan, high-heels held in one hand, and all but plastered herself all over him. Ryan had been drinking but the last time Gavin checked he'd only had two pints so he wasn't even tipsy at this point. But for some reason unbeknownst to everyone but the girl, she flirted with him for five minutes (Gavin had counted again) before smashing their lips together in a sloppy kiss.

If Gavin thought he'd been jealous before, he was wrong. Because _this_ was jealousy; fire burning in the pit of his stomach like the King of Hell himself had decided to take up residence there while he frowned with distaste and disgust at the woman.

Gavin wasn't jealous of Ryan's ability to pick up anyone, no, he was jealous of everyone who fell for Ryan's charms because Gavin wanted to be the one Ryan was flirting with.

He almost stormed over there and shoved the girl away just so he could show Ryan just how jealous he was by kissing him right then and there. However, Gavin thought that if he wanted to actually show Ryan he was serious, now wouldn't be the time to kiss him, so he let Ryan deal with his issue on his own.

Ryan, ever the gentleman, had let the drunken girl kiss him for a few seconds before gently pushing her off, only to take her carefully and reassuringly by the shoulder so he could lead her outside and into the next taxi that arrived outside the bar.

When he came back, Gavin had undone a couple of buttons on his shirt and had a new drink in his hand and a new mission in mind; make Ryan realise exactly how his charming and attractive superpowers affected Gavin.

All Gavin could say that was by the end of the night, his mission had gone even better than he had planned… and he was no longer free on Friday afternoon.


End file.
